quit xanax xr cold turkey, now bad sleeping problems

[feddef]

I was on xanax xr 3mg 3x a day for at least 2 years through a psychiatrist.  I quit the medication on my own since the doctors i was seeing at the end of my taking it weren't willing to prescribe that medication at such a high dose for me.  I quit cold turkey, i got over the addiction, i no longer require it, however ever since quitting i've had severe problems with my sleep.  

Since quitting its been very difficult for me to get to sleep, takes a few hours, plus i tend to sleep for a long time.  I dont get up for about 12 hours after going to bed.  

I am wondering how a doctor would treat this?  my current psychiatric nurse doesn't know what to do.

[Alleykatt34]

Hi there...just wanted to say that you were LUCKY!  I had on my own (which I will never do again!!) cut my xanax back.  I'm really not sure how much I was taking during the time before I had 2 seizures.  I would definetly find another dr.  One who understands the stregnth of some of these drugs.  I am not a doctor/nurse, but from my own experience I will never quit xanax cold turkey.

Good luck to you,
Alley

[nursegirl6572]

I just cannot believe they cut you off at that dose...my goodness.  You ARE lucky you didn't end up in the hospital.  I cannot imagine the agony you were in!

Try some of the things you had suggested here...and another warning...you're taking WAY too much Benadryl.  Benadryl is often used for sleep, but the very MAX dose I ever saw someone take under an MD's guidance was 100mg per night.  It is usually 25 or 50 mg.

Try to cut back to 50mg if you can.

It's really just a crying shame that the psych nurse (who should have been directly under the supervision of the psychiatrist) just left you out in the cold, basically...to fend for yourself.  That's just awful.

I think the sleep issues are going to take some time, unfortunately.

Read up on the natural remedies, and also the substance abuse forum has awesome people with all kinds of ideas.  Maybe post there explaining that while you are no longer in active w/d's...certainly the c/t off such a high dose has seriously disrupted your sleep pattern.

I agree with lydia too....no more lounging, slobbering on yourself for 12 hours!  ;0)  Well, not more than maybe once a month, TOPS.

Best of luck to you, I'm sincerely sorry you had to go through this.  :0(

[feddef]

hi all.  

thank you.  yes.  i saw a psychiatrist, he turned me over to a psychiatric nurse in the same office, and for 2 years I was on the stuff.  3mg 3x a day for 2 years.  before i was on that, i was on klonopin (3x a day 1mg) for a number of years.  

I have been off xanax xr 3mg 3x a day for 1  year now.  i probably started having sleep problems as soon as i got off of it. within a months time.  

I stopped seeing her and in searching for another doctor, which are limited because of medicaid insurance, would not even have me as a patient, or would have me as a patient but would not precsribe any xanax xr to taper off.  so i was forced to bite the bullet on my own.  i probably spend 1-2 months doing nothing but laying in bed since any other activity was too stressful.  i remember, i had to teach myself how to walk again :)  

I think greenlydia is right on.  i think 8 hours is what i need.  9 if i'm being greedy, but i tend to take 12.  i realize most career minded people often dont get 8.  i will try and force myself to sleep just those 8.  

i agree that i ought not to rely on medication to get through this if it can be avoided.  
its going to be very hard since i've taken 3-4 benadryl a night for the past 5 months in addition to my antipsychotics just so i can drift away in a few hours.  

i will google benzo withdrawls to learn more though i would like to welcome anything anyone else has to say.  my goal is to not be dependant on medication for anything.  

[RubyWitch]

First off, I just can't stop myself from saying that both your psychiatrist, and later your prescribing MDs, were all MORONS!
9mg qd of Xanax is a gorilla size dose and you did that for TWO YEARS under the guidance of a shrink who should know that after about 4 months Xanax loses its efficacy! All you were doing at that point was keeping the w/d at bay!
And your doctors who would no longer prescribe it for you, knowing the length of time you'd been on it and the massive dose you were taking.........just stopped giving you refills? Did not have you come in and begin a very long and slow taper. As nursegirl said, you are very lucky that you did as well as you did. Going cold turkey from that much Xanax could have caused you to seizure and landed you in the hospital...........most likely the rehab center.
As you were asked, how long have you been off the Xanax? Sleep problems are very common, but there are many non-narcotic ways to induce sleep. Don't go from the frying pan into the fire. Again, as nursegirl suggested, try something natural first. Read up on tips for chronic insomniacs. If you go to bed and can't sleep, don't lay there tossing and turning........that just creates anger and tension and is not restful. Get up, do something. Read, watch TV, write letters............when you finally feel really tired, go to bed, but knock off the 12 hour snooze-a-thon! No wonder you're not tired the next night! Set an alarm clock for no more than 8 hours and no matter how tired you feel, get up! You need to get your internal clock reset and it's gonna take some time and it's gonna take some effort on your part, but you can do it.........if you want. We all have our own personal circadian rhythm.........you need to figure out what yours is and then work with it, not against it.
As a very last resort, if you can't seem to get your sleep pattern/insomnia under control, then perhaps you should discuss with your doctor having a sleep evaluation done.
I wish you luck..........I've had my bouts of not being able to sleep and it plays havoc with your life.
Keep us posted, OK?
Peace and sweet dreams
Greenlydia

[xanweaner]

When did your sleep problems begin? How soon after the xanax withdrawal?

I'm rather surprised that a psychiatrist would allow you to quit xanax "cold-turkey" since he wasn't comfortable in rxing xanax for you. Was he aware of the current dosage that you were taking?

You've received some good advice so far...if you are indeed still recovering from xanax withdrawal symptoms and need quality sleep, I take Ambien. It works great for me - I currently take 5 mg. (break the 10 mg. in half), and it works quite well. Once you're body adjusts to the withdrawal, you can then wean off of Ambien.

I know that people get good results from melatonin...I was told by a sales rep. who sold the supplement that regular use can cause depression, so I've stayed away from it. He said it's only supposed to be used as needed, and not regularly.

Good luck...I hope you can get some quality sleep..
xan ♫

[AJWS6]

I'm sorry you had no help from you doctor, Xanax has to be tapered, not stopped abruptly.  

You are going through benzo withdrawals.  I don't know how long it's been since you stopped using Xanax, but insomnia is a common withdrawal from the medication.  

Each phases for withdrawals differs from person to person.  I came off of Klonopin after using 8 months, 1x a night for sleep.  I had difficulty sleeping for several months, then sleep began to improve, now I am sleeping normal again.

So it's going to take some time, for your system to adjust without the xanax.  And if at all possible do not medicate the withdrawal symptom, it will only prolong it.  

You can find alot of information on the internet about benzo withdrawals.  Do a search on the Ashton manual, it is very imformative about benzo's.  Good luck.  

[nursegirl6572]

Wow...that was a marjorly high dose...I'm glad to hear you got thru the w/d's okay.  How long has it been since you stopped taking it?

Have you tried the natural sleep remedies?  Like Melatonin?  People swear by the stuff.

Since your trouble seems to be falling asleep not STAYING asleep, have you tried getting to bed earlier?  No caffeine after like lunchtime?

Also, exercise in the early evening helps sometimes as well.

If nothing helps, I would discuss with your doc to see if maybe they would try a sleeping pill?  Have you tried Benadryl?  That usually works well for sleep.  Check with your doc first...but you could give that a try as well!

Good luck.